


The Syndulla Home for Orphans and Vagabonds

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, F/M, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27926167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: There's someone new at breakfast. This isn't the first time.
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 6
Kudos: 17
Collections: Star Wars Rare Pairs 2020





	The Syndulla Home for Orphans and Vagabonds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucymonster/gifts).



Kallus yawned as he came aboard the ship. The morning dawned with a thin chill. He'd accepted a stint of night shifts for the next couple of weeks, and he was already regretting saying yes. He had believed he could use his free time during the day to babysit Jacen while taking the occasional light doze, but "free time," "light doze," and "telekinetic toddler" were not concepts that meshed well together. He wanted to bury his face in a pillow for the next six hours and he knew he couldn't. He had a child to watch while Hera worked her own shift, and he'd simply have to power through, sleep or no sleep.

But first, breakfast.

There was someone in the galley. She had good instincts, immediately noticing his presence as she continued to shovel cereal into her mouth, blue drips running back into the bowl under her. Their supply chain had come across a huge store of this stuff, which had kept the whole base eating crispy sweetened squares drowned in milk for the past month. The newcomer had yet to make the same face the rest of them did when facing yet another bowlful. She crammed more into her mouth and said around the bite, "The General said I could have some." She swallowed loudly.

"By all means," said Kallus. She looked human, perhaps twenty years old. "Don't mind me," he said, reaching past to get a bowl for himself and steeling his nerves before he poured some squares for his meal.

"You work here or live here?"

"I'm part of the crew, so the answer to both is yes." He could take this out to the lounge, or he could sit at the table, and he was too tired to go out there. "And you are?"

"Maybin." She chewed her cereal. "I signed up yesterday. I'm a pilot!" she said proudly.

"I see." One of Hera's new recruits. The Rebellion had a steady stream of them, trained as well as she and her compatriots could train them before sending them out in an X-wing to get shot at. Hera knew better than to get attached, but she always did. Kallus looked at the girl again. 'Twenty' had been too generous a guess. "What age did you put down in your recruitment docs?"

She glared at him. "Hey, I'll be eighteen soon enough."

"Would that be next week or three years from now?"

"Only two!" She glared again, but didn't stop eating. She had the look of someone who'd missed too many meals. Kallus would have liked to think no one had ever signed onto the Rebellion in exchange for a bed and a hot dinner, but he'd met Ezra.

"Good morning," Hera said, coming in with Jacen in her arms. "I see you've met."

Maybin hopped to her feet and attempted a terrible salute. "Good morning, General!"

Kallus waved her down. "If we all saluted every time we saw her, nothing would get done."

"I don't know," Hera said. "I kind of like it." She smiled warmly at Maybin. "Kidding. Please sit down." She put Jacen into his chair. Kallus shifted his seat, alternating bites of his own cereal between himself and the boy. At least Jacen wasn't sick of this stuff yet.

"Maybin will be staying with us for a while," Hera said, in that way she had of declaring what the future would look like rather than asking for opinions. "Sabine's room is empty."

"It's neat," said Maybin. "All those colors, wow! You sure she doesn't mind me taking her room?"

Kallus said, "I'm sure she'll be pleased the space is being used." And Hera was happiest with a full ship, and with people she cared for surrounding her.

Maybin was the third new recruit to take over Sabine's cabin. They stayed for a couple of weeks or months before finding their footing with the rest of the Rebellion, making some friends, and moving in with the other pilots or techs. Right now, there was a Rodian snoring in the top bunk in Zeb's cabin, in perfect counterpoint to Zeb's own snores below. Kallus expected them up soon.

"Mah!" said Jacen, demanding more cereal.

"Here, let's have you try it." Kallus moved the bowl in front of him, and wrapped the small hand around the spoon. "Scoop it," he said, guiding Jacen's arm through the motion. "Then in the mouth." Most of the food made it inside.

"You're getting so good at that," Hera praised him, petting Jacen's soft hair. She took down her own bowl and made the face at the cereal before putting on a happy face to keep encouraging her son to eat.

Maybin finished her cereal and took the bowl to the sink. One glance from Hera was enough for her to rinse her bowl and spoon properly and set them aside to dry. "I've got duty in an hour."

"So do I. 'Fresher's down one level. You can have it first. I don't have to wait for my hair to dry."

"Thanks!" Maybin grinned and slouched off.

When she was gone, Kallus said, "She's sixteen."

"You're sure? The betting pool says the odds are on fifteen." Hera ate her food. "She's a fantastic pilot. She's got some bad habits I'll need to help her break, but she's got a lot of potential."

Before Maybin had been a hot-headed human named Jarek, and before him, a wise-cracking Ardennian named Pia. Brilliant pilots all, and Hera had seen their potential, but Kallus knew the real reason she'd brought these particular strays aboard. She had a special place in her heart for orphans and castaways, and the Rebellion was well-stocked on those. People who'd lost their homes or their hopes washed in, and Hera found the ones who needed a place to sleep and room to heal, often the youngest ones. Humans weren't supposed to sign on until they were eighteen. Scandocs got lost easily, though, and lies were told even more so.

He'd told enough lies in his day, and it wasn't as though he'd first come aboard because he'd been inundated with other options. He still remembered his palm-sweating fear inside the escape pod, wondering if Hera would fly by and leave him, and his bone-melting relief as the _Ghost_ clamped on, saving his life. He was just another homeless wanderer to take in as far as they cared, even after everything.

He rinsed a cloth and cleaned Jacen's grubby face. "All done?"

"Done!"

"Good." He pulled him out of the chair and held him, rocking him with one leg and holding back a yawn.

"Long night?"

"I'll get used to it." The yawn burst out. "Ready to play?"

Hera set aside her bowl and took Jacen from him. "You are too tired. I've already asked Zeb to watch him this morning. Get some rest."

Kallus went to protest, then slumped. "I only need a couple of hours."

"I can ask him to wake you up for lunch."

Lunch was a good five hours away. "Thanks."

He walked down the corridor and met Maybin coming out of Sabine's cabin with her arms filled with clothes and hair cleaner. "Oh. Hi again."

"Hello." He went to the door.

"How long have you known the General?"

He tried to parse out his answer. "We met six years ago." Truth without honesty, he thought. A spy's best asset.

"That's a long time! You must've been with the Rebellion since it started."

"Not exactly."

"Was General Syndulla the one who recruited you?"

"No, that was Zeb." It had been an accident, but they all agreed on the initial push and the outcome.

Maybin stood there, fresh uniform in hand, doubt on her young face. "If I wasn't exactly truthful on my recruitment docs, will she kick me off the ship?"

"Are you going to show up on time, follow orders without complaint, and help us fight the Empire?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then you're doing better than half the people who've already lived here and significantly better than the droid."

She grinned.

Zeb's door slid open. "Morning," he said. Behind him, Froti was still snoring.

"Good morning," said Kallus. "Hera's going to ask you to watch Jacen for a few hours. Last chance to say no before I fall asleep."

"Nah, it's fine. Go."

With a nod, Kallus ducked into the cabin. Hera had made it very clear this was her space. He might be invited in but that didn't mean he had a deciding vote on the decorating choices. That was fine by him. He liked the scrawling art along the back wall, and the scatter of tools at her workbench. They spoke of the person who had crafted this living space around herself over the years, and she was one of his favorite people in the galaxy. She'd taken him in like any of her other orphans and strays, although she owed nothing to the usual lost souls she brought into her life. He knew his own debt in the other direction was steep. He owed everything to her and to this crew, and the strange wonder of it all was that she'd never dream of asking repayment. She only asked that he stay, and help raise her child, and not steal the blankets, and he was happy to commit his life to the first two. He was still working on the third but that one wouldn't be a problem for the next few weeks.

Kallus dimmed the light, kicked off his boots and crawled into the bunk, his eyes closing as soon as his head was down.

He was half-asleep when the door opened again, then closed as quickly. He heard a rustle in the darkness of someone sliding off their own boots, then felt Hera slip into the bunk beside him.

"Your shift starts soon."

"I know." She curled against him. "How long did you say you're working nights?"

"Two weeks or until I convince Cracken I'm more useful on the day shift."

She wouldn't say she'd missed him. She wouldn't say she couldn't wait for his shifts to change back. She certainly wouldn't offer to talk to his superiors to change his schedule. Hera wasn't given to that sort of talk or gesture. Instead, she looped her arms around him and settled closer to share the little time they had this morning, and that said far more.

He closed his eyes again and rested, safe within her embrace.


End file.
